617-doctor affiliate to join OSU system, streamline care

Ohio State University created a private physician practice eight years ago. The doctors in the practice are affiliated with the university but bill separately.

That arrangement will change this year as the OSU Medical Center plans to bring the 617 physicians - and their revenues - into the university.

Ohio State University created a private physician practice eight years ago. The doctors in the practice are affiliated with the university but bill separately.

That arrangement will change this year as the OSU Medical Center plans to bring the 617 physicians - and their revenues - into the university.

The goal is to reduce bureaucracy and the redundancy of medical tests. It also should make it easier for their 250,000 patients to get health services within the OSU system.

"We think it will allow us to implement a complete electronic medical record" system, said Dr. E. Christopher Ellison, associate vice president for health services at Ohio State.

"It will be a huge advantage to our patients who go, say, to OSU East, and (physicians) could see that Mrs. Smith saw Dr. Ellison, and here is the record."

Right now, the physicians' group - called OSU Physicians - is not electronically connected to the university's medical center.

Other than that, patients shouldn't notice a change, officials say.

The arrangement will make Ohio State a powerhouse when negotiating contracts with health-insurance companies.

"It will be pretty difficult for an employer to go back to their employees and say, 'I'm sorry, you can't go to the Ross (Heart Hospital) or the James (Cancer Hospital),'" said Dr. Steven Gabbe, chief executive of the health system. "It will help us negotiate, yes."

However, that also could mean higher prices for health services.

A study published online Thursday by the Center for Studying Health System Change, a nonpartisan research group based in Washington, found that when hospitals and physicians join forces, they can negotiate significantly higher payment rates from private insurers.

While health insurers have taken a lot of blame for the cost of health insurance, the study found that providers share some responsibility.

"Providers that are attractive to people can demand and get leverage" from insurers, said Alwyn Cassil, spokeswoman for the Center for Studying Health System Change.

But for the nation's health system to survive, these costs need to come down, said Kelly McGivern, president of the Ohio Association of Health Plans.

"They're (Ohio State and its physicians) likely going to demand higher reimbursement from the health-insurance companies," she said. "Those higher reimbursements are going to be reflective in higher premiums consumers pay going forward."

For years, hospitals across the nation have been hiring more doctors. Why? Patients tend to go to hospitals recommended by their physicians.

"Some physicians like being entrepreneurs; others are perfectly happy being part of a big health-care system," said D. Brent Mulgrew, executive director of the Ohio State Medical Association.

Several hospital systems, including the University of Michigan and the Cleveland Clinic, employ all of their physicians.

OSU hospital leaders will spend the next few months creating contracts for each doctor and will begin meeting with them in the summer.

Many of these doctors are paid by the physician practice for seeing patients and by Ohio State for being faculty members.

By Jan. 1, they'll all be full university employees, which will enroll them in the State Teachers Retirement System.

"I actually feel very positive about it," said Dr. Mary Jo Welker, a family doctor and one of the 617 physicians.

"Our practices are already owned by the university. Now, our employer will be the university 100 percent."

shoholik@dispatch.com

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